Lumajang Peoples Demanded the Local PPID Formation

Lumajang—“Every citizens have the right to know the public information and attend the public meeting. All kind of public information have to be disclosed, so it can be accessed by all user, except for the exempted information, such as information related to intelligence service data, personal matters, secret matters of company. Since the government and public institution must be transparent about their data, ultimately for finance data, it’s all then being our concern. If there seems to be non-transparent financial data, it deserves to be suspected of indicative corruption,” Rere Christanto elaborated, a spokesperson of MediaLink in the “Deepening Understanding to the Access to Public Information” workshop in Lumajang on 27/09/13.

PINTER Community goes to Pemda Lumajang

The KIP (Public Information Disclosure) shouldn’t be limitedly implemented at national level of government, it must be widening to the local level. PPID (Information and Documentation Manager Officer) is designed to bring the government institution services closer to the public, in order to make the request of the needed information be easier. The centralized local-PPID is unavailable in Lumajang Regency level, different from its fellow city, Sidoarjo. It is known that PPID separately available at scattered local offices level, one PPID at each of local health, agriculture, and local education offices. There is no Lumajang Regency-centralized PPID. However it can’t be an excuse for them not to search and request the needed information.

“The formation of Lumajang Regency-based PPID is immediately needed. The authority of PPID will document every single of the publicly requested information. As having regulated by the Law, each citizen has the right to know the public information and attend the public meeting. Each applicant has the right to request the public information until the Supreme Court level. The law was passed in 1999, but the government has just recently announced it in 2005,” Amin Bawazier said, a spokesperson from media.

The Local Public Relation Office should be able to disclose the public information. If they don’t to do so, there is a mandated institution which serves that function, namely PPID. That’s why in this workshop we were scheduled an arranged meeting to submit a final-document to the Lumajang Regent, demanding the immediate formation of Lumajang Regency-centralized PPID. It is aimed to publicly open the access to information, an obligatory function of all public institutions, which includes all public officers at national, provincial, regency level of government. Even for mosques when it publicly asks for donations can be requested of its detailed information. According to law, it is our right to request for the public information. What we meant by the public information is all kind of information related to public interest. Here it is the importance of the public information disclosure, to be able to ensure the public life is better.*